Japan - Sun Umbrella

I forget the name of it, but there was a town with a (distant) view of Fuji that was famous for its seven springs.  A pretty little tourist town surrounded, as you can see here, by tall hills and beautiful vistas.  This and the next several postings were captured in this place.

The reason this photo was chosen was because of the umbrella, purpose-built for shade instead of protection from the rain.  Never had seen one of these.

People ask us what was our favorite place or thing to do while in Japan.  For me it was something that, ironically, could not be photographed.  In this little town there was a guy with a monkey that wore a uniform and did the most amazing tricks.  At about four and a half feet standing it wasn't small either, but not a chimp.  He did somersaults, hand stands and high jumps.  He would follow his owner's instructions to do human-like things that almost gave you the creeps.  And, during intervals of the show - which took place under an awning next to the street - he would stand very close, facing the audience of a few dozen who'd gathered to watch the spectacle.  As he was standing there, he would survey the crowd, looking directly into the eyes of the spectators.  My gosh, how intelligent those eyes were!  Makes you think about what a spectral thing life is, species-wise.  But alas, no photography was allowed (for good reason), so it'll have to remain committed to memory.

Japan - Hotel on Lake Ashi / Kenny's Crackers

Taken from one of the pirate ferries, got lucky on this one in terms of composition and exposure...virtually no post-capture work was needed.
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During my sophomore year in college, in 1978, I made a friend.  Kenny Sanford was not your average friend for a college student, as he was in his eighties, but we felt at home with one another from the very start.  He and his wife, Dona, were members of the East Main Church of Christ in Nacogdoches, where I had begun to attend.  It was a very small congregation - at the time about 40 on a good Sunday morning - and, like Kenny, the membership was getting on in years.  They were very pleased to have someone young like me take an interest in their little place, and I went to work right away leading singing.  It was a good fit, because I was raised by my mother to appreciate the elderly and had no problem working among them.

As we grew closer and I began to spend more time with Kenny and Dona on Sundays at their dinner table, I grew fascinated with the stories he had to tell.  He was born in 1896 (the year Harriet Beecher Stowe died) and remembered well the events of his youth. One of his earliest memories was when he was four years old and witnessed someone being killed by the proprietor of a saloon...an old-fashioned "saloon shootout", he used to say.  And he told of a time his family moved down to Trinity County when twenty miles was a good day's travel up and down the hills of East Texas in a covered wagon.

Kenny served in World War I, but never made it to Europe because the Armistice was signed the day before his unit was supposed to depart.  In spite of that he was proud to have served and a picture of him in uniform was proudly displayed on the living room wall. Soon after he got back home from boot camp, right around 1920, he heard of an opportunity for veterans to buy "school land" east of Houston for $2 per acre.  That was an offer that he forever lamented passing up.

He wasn't stuck in the past, though.  His favorite TV show was the Dukes of Hazzard because he loved the car chase scenes, and we would often talk about the news, with "all the meanness going on nowadays".  It was a delight to know Kenny, Dona and, later Kenny Jr, who, among his seven surviving children (one died in WWII), cared for them the most.

Because of their age, health issues occasionally popped up and I'd hear about what the doctors would diagnose and prescribe.  One Sunday Kenny shared with me that he was supposed to cut down on salt, and that he and Dona were trying to figure out how.  I observed that he was about to eat crackers with his soup, and pointed out that they were covered with salt on one side.

"Really?", he said, looking up.  "How am I supposed to get it off?"

"Easy," I answered, "just get the salty sides and rub them together.  All the salt will come off."

Willing enough to try, he did just that - found the salty sides of two crackers and rubbed them together...right over his bowl!  He was satisfied that he'd done what the doctor said, and commenced eating his soup, which was now a bit saltier than before.

Our friendship endured for as long as I was in Nacogdoches, but the day had to come when he passed away, I believe in 1985 (I was living in Memphis, Texas, teaching high school at the time).  On my first visit after that happened Dona took me to his closet and asked if I wanted any of his old shirts.  I took a long-sleeve western-style shirt I'd seen him wear many times, and to this day it is hanging in my closet as a keepsake of our friendship.

Japan - Pirate Ferry

This is a zoomed-in shot of the ferry vessel in the middle of the frame posted yesterday, a few minutes later when it was closer.

Boy, I sure like the reach of the CX sensor format, with its 1.5 crop factor.  My walkabout lens is the Nikkor 18-200, which gives it a reach of 300 mm when fully zoomed in, and if you've followed my (much) earlier postings you know that's why I chose the D300 over the D700 when given a choice.  Except in some low-light situations I have never regretted that decision.

But what to do when I upgrade?  I'm lusting for full-frame, but realize that I'd be losing one of the best advantages of shooting with a CX sensor.  In that vein the D500 seems a no-brainer, but why in the world did they leave the flash out?  Lots to think about...

Japan - Fuji Lake Panorama

This 3-shot panorama had to be touched up quite a bit to bring in enough contrast to see the mountain in the background.  To the untrained eye it might look OK, but one of these days I'm going to take the time to make a suitable layer out of just Fuji and the sky and adjust so there is no fringing at the edge of the hill to the left.

There are two "pirate" ferry boats in this shot, taken on Lake Ashi.  They are a tourist draw, but the locals really use these as a taxi service to get to the various places along its shores.

Japan - Fuji with Branches

In the spirit of taking pictures of things through things, the shot above is Fuji viewed through the branches of a small tree.  The photo below is from a few steps to the left.

As fantastic as the opportunities were, with the great weather and all, these photos gave me fits.  There was so much distance between us and the mountain (about 25 miles) that fighting haze became a major issue in post-capture.  We didn't know the bus was going to stop when it did, so I just grabbed the camera and made a beeline to the vantage points without taking the time to mount a polarized filter, which I carried with me everywhere.  Nevertheless, we have some passable frames from a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The alignment of the tree branches with the side of the mountain in this case was done on purpose.  Another time, however, during a shoot at the Houston Zoo, matching angles was quite by accident, as in the photo linked here.  I had posted the pic in my cubicle at work and was looking at it one day - probably a year or more later - and observed that the angle of the giraffe's neck match the shadows perfectly!  No bragging rights, though...

Japan - Fuji Panorama with Hotel

Our tour guide was kind enough one day to have the bus driver stop where there was a panoramic view of the landscape along with Fuji in the background.  This is a three-shot panorama, with about a quarter of the image clipped off the left side for this posting.  The white building on the left edge is the hotel where we stayed the night before...the one that offered such a good view of the mountain.  A zoomed-in shot of the property is below:

The ledge you see at the top of the hotel is the restaurant, which has a glass wall facing Fuji.  Beyond the hotel complex is a vast city, which we (thankfully) never entered.

Japan - Pond Scene

Turning to the right from my position on top of the museum, captured this in a 2-shot panorama.  There was a white sign on the hut that was removed, as well as some mid-tone contrast enhancement to make the reflections stand out more.  I thought about taking out the group of tourists also, but realized it would have to be done in the reflection as well, so let them be.  Besides, I reasoned that they give it perspective.

Gave this one to one of my nieces, printed 12" high and mounted on Gatorboard.

Japan - Fuji HDR

One aspect of photography that I've wanted to try is HDR photography.  The acronym stands for "high dynamic range", and relies on a technique to get the shadows and highlights to display in a way that mimics the 13+ stops available to the human eye.  In other words, the shadows show a great amount of detail without drowning in the darkness, and the highlights are all there without blowing out.  The technique involves taking a series of photographs of exactly the same thing at different exposures.  The pictures are blended in Photoshop or another program, where the darker exposures preserve the highlights, and the lighter exposures bring out the shadows.

Naturally the Big Cahoona can do this with ease.  That capability, along with the bracketing practice I got in Taiwan the previous week, was recipe for a first trial.

The trick in HDR is to capture exactly the same image in the different exposures, and conventional wisdom dictates the use of a tripod.  Didn't have a tripod on this trip - and wouldn't have been carrying it around with my family even if I did - but very fortunately found myself in some spots that enabled bump-free shooting, away from the masses.

The photo at top was taken in a small town we passed through, and was done with two shots...the lighter exposure captured shadow detail admirably, and the darker exposure did a fairly good job with the mountain and sky.  I was able to hold the camera still enough between shots to enable Photoshop to line them up without too much trouble.  Turned out well for a first try.

The pic at bottom is another matter, however.  With what was probably the best $3.00 investment made during the trip, I broke away from the peeps and gained access to a platform built on the roof of a museum.  From there a visitor can view Fuji with the awesome setting that you see in the foreground.  The HDR was taken with five separate exposures, though in post-capture I just couldn't get it to balance.  I've kept the original JPEG's from which it was created, so can possibly go back someday to re-work it, or buy Photomatix and get a tutorial online.

Japan - Fuji at Sunrise / Brush with Slavery #2

This trip was my fifth to Taiwan, and for the first time we decided to make a hop over to Japan and take a look.  Chenjean's father is getting on up there in age, so this was an opportunity also to take him with us for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...a win-win for all.

Of course, no one can be a tourist in Japan without at least trying to see Mount Fuji.  Having said that, I am issuing a POSTCARD ALERT! for this and the next several postings.

We were extraordinarily lucky in that the weather was perfect for the entire five days we were there.  Wisely, we went with a tour operator, and he stated that of the ten groups he'd taken to Fuji that season we were the only ones that got a good view, as it was rainy or foggy for the others.

We were also extraordinarily lucky in that our hotel room for that leg of the trip faced directly toward the mountain.  This was the morning at sunrise after our arrival.  It had snowed the day before, dusting the peak in white; the reason the snow is at an angle is that the afternoon sun melted it a bit more on the western side.
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Brush with Slavery #2

You never know who you're going to meet in a small town.  I've discovered over the years that it is often in the backwaters of America that you run across the most fascinating characters.  Nacogdoches, Texas, is no exception.

It was in one of the smaller, outlying congregations of the churches of Christ in Nacogdoches, called East Main, that I, to my knowledge, first laid eyes on a Chinese person.  Her name was Chenjean.  I had lately fallen away from attendance and on a Wednesday night my landlord out in the country, Mr. Curry, offered to pick me up on his way to Bible study.  It turned out that there were only five in attendance at the service that night - in addition to Mr. and Mrs. Curry and myself, only two more, one of whom was Chenjean.

In spite of that inauspicious beginning I took up attending again, and as time went by there were enough young people to take on the appearance of a youth group.  We all got along and enjoyed doing things together, playing games on Friday nights and going on the occasional trip.  It was a blessed time when, looking back, I'm convinced that God was allowed to breathe a little life into East Main.

One of the duties we'd taken on as a group was the delivery of the Lord's Supper to the local rest home on the west side of town, on Loop 224.  The accouterments fit into a little box that neatly encased the unleavened bread, little cups and "fruit of the vine", as the emblem of the blood is called.  Eventually it fell upon Chenjean and I to take on this duty.

At the home there was really only one resident that we visited.  Her name was Lottie Upshaw, an elderly African American who lit the room with her smile and greeting as we walked into the room.  She was so fun to visit, full of stories and opinions on the news of the day.  Often we considered our time with Lottie the highlight of our Sundays.

As we got to know Lottie, we discovered some fascinating things about her life and history.  One was that she responded to the Gospel and was baptized well into her eighties.  Another was that she became a staunch Republican who adored Ronald Reagan, which was highly unusual for her demographic.  And lastly, she was the daughter of a slave.

When Lottie revealed to us that her mother was a slave I silently did the math in my head to ascertain whether it could be true, much as I'd done by the fence at the Pitts' home in last week's story.  This was 1987, and if Lottie was born late in her mother's life - as told by Lottie she was in her fifties - it was possible that as a child her mother could indeed have been a slave as a youngster.  This made our acquaintance with Lottie all the more interesting.

Chenjean and I had been delivering the Lord's Supper to Lottie at the home for a month or so when one Sunday she dropped another of her bombshells.  After visiting for a short while she looked at us and declared that we'd make a good couple, that we should just "get together"!  At the time Chenjean and I had not really dated, but we were doing more together, mostly for the church.  Lottie's comment changed things, though, and I began to look at her a little differently.  Thus, due to the seed planted by Lottie Upshaw, this daughter of a slave, our lives took a turn and the "rest is history", as they say.

Taipei 101 - Shady Side

We exited the building on the sunny side - as seen in the April 23rd posting to begin the 101 series - and made our way around to the other side later in the afternoon, where it looked like this.